New Delhi: In a major breakthrough, chief of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu, one of the most wanted terrorist blamed for a number of terror attacks, has been arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police.
The arrest of Akhtar days after Delhi Police nabbed another top IM operative Zia Ur Rehman alias Waqas from Ajmer in Rajasthan along with three of his associates.
Special Commissioner of the Special Cell S N Shrivastava confirmed his arrest to PTI but refused to divulge more details.
Akhtar was heading the Indian Mujahideen after the arrest of Yasin Bhatkal, co-founder of the terror outfit.
With the arrest of Tehseen, almost the entire top leadership of Indian Mujahideen has been nabbed by the police.
Indian Mujahideen co-founder Ahmad Siddhibappa Zarar alias Yasin Bhatkal, Tehseen Akhtar alias Monu, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi and Zia Ur Rehman alias Waqas were the brains behind almost every IM attack on Indian soil.
Ahmad Siddhibappa Zarar alias Yasin Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi were arrested from Indo-Nepal border last year while Waqas and Monu were on the run.
Waqas and the other three of the Rajasthan module had been working under the direction of Akhtar who had told them to be ready for strike but did not disclose the target, police said.
In 2010, Waqas had reached Kathmandu from Pakistan along with Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi (arrested with Yasin Bhatkal) in September 2010 and was received by Tehseen Akhtar.
From Nepal, Waqas came to Darbhanga in Bihar where he met Yaseen Bhatkal and other members of the Bihar module of IM.
This module then carried out the Jama Masjid attacks on September 19, 2010. After successfully executing the Jama Masjid terror strikes, Waqas returned to Bihar, police said.
Tehseen Akhtar along with Yasin, Haddi and Waqas was also involved in the Mumbai serial blasts carried out at Opera House and Zaveri Bazar on July 12, 2011 when Yasin was the boss.
After the Mumbai blasts, the next strike carried out by them was the Pune serial blasts of August 1, 2012. After this, Rehman and Haddi left for Mangalore and settled in a safehouse, investigators said.
According to police, in Mangalore, Rehman received instructions from Riyaz Bhatkal to prepare for carrying out bomb blasts in Hyderabad.
In early February, 2013, Rehman and Haddi shifted to Hyderabad where Tehseen also joined them.
The Hyderabad serial blasts were executed by them on February 21, 2013. After carrying out the strike, Rehman returned to Mangalore and stayed there for some time.
When the news broke of Yasin and Haddi's arrest by Indian security agencies, Riyaz directed Rehman and Tehseen to immediately leave the Mangalore hideout, police said.
"Waqas moved to Munnar in Kerala and rented a house there where he lived alone. Here he even worked at a tea stall.
Tehseen also visited him there for a short period. After staying in Munnar, Rehman kept travelling through Odisha, West Bengal and Maharashtra while staying in touch with Riyaz Bhatkal and Tehseen," the official said.
Upon directions from Tehseen to come to Ajmer for an assignment, Rehman reached Ajmer from where he was arrested on Saturday morning.
